had erected a platform, and arranged an open-air auditorium
on a grand scale. A hundred yards or so away was a large plunge bath,
deep enough for a good high dive. It had been constructed by the Germans
when they were in occupation, but when we saw it a score of our own
Tommies were disporting themselves in the water and having a high old
time. Albert was a scene of desolation, with its ruined church as the
most conspicuous feature. High up on the top of the spire, dislodged by
German shells, and jutting out at right angles to the spire, was the
famous figure of the Virgin holding in her hands the infant Christ. For
many months the figure had remained in this position, and was only
finally brought down during the enemy's advance in 1918. The Y.M.C.A. in
Albert was established in one big hut and two badly ruined houses. It
was on the Saturday that St. Leger fell, and the Sunday at Albert was a
memorable day. The town was crowded with an endless stream of men,
horses, guns, and service wagons passing through. Little was sold in our
canteens, but free refreshments were handed out by tired but willing
workers all day long. Nearly all those workers had thrilling stories to
tell of narrow escapes from death. Albert was evacuated on the Sunday
night, and the place must have presented somewhat the appearance of a
shambles. The Boche aeroplanes were dropping bombs or firing their
machine-guns all the time, but still our men kept on serving the hot tea
and cocoa, biscuits, and cigarettes that were so much appreciated by
officers and men alike, only leaving their posts and abandoning their
hut when ordered to do so by the Military. The retreat from Albert must
have been like an awful nightmare. Some of our men in the darkness
became entangled in the fallen wires, and whilst trying to extricate
themselves heard the hum of an aeroplane just overhead, and a bomb was
dropped only a few yards in front of them.

[Illustration: THE Y.M.C.A. IN A RUINED WAREHOUSE. SHELL-HOLE IN FLOOR
OF CANTEEN]

At Bapaume we had several centres in and closely adjacent to the town.
Bapaume, like Peronne, was not destroyed by enemy shell-fire, but
deliberately wrecked by the Hun before he was forced to evacuate, and
the foe we face to-day is a past master in the art of destruction.
Hardly a building of any description remained intact in either of these
towns when the British entered into occupation. That very fact made us
marvel when, standing for the f